The state's massive public pension fund lost more than 26 percent on its investments during a fiscal year marked by Wall Street's meltdown and the recession, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Friday.
Benefits to retirees are secure, but DiNapoli said the market downturn would require higher employer pension contribution rates in future years, and he announced proposed legislation to give state and local government employers an option to manage those expected increases.
The fund was worth about $109.9 billion when the fiscal year ended on March 31, down from roughly $154 billion a year earlier.
“Like everyone who has seen the value of their investments decline, we’ve felt the weight of the global economic crisis,” DiNapoli said in a statement Friday. “But our diversification and long-term investment strategies helped us weather the storm better than most, and we’re fully funded and well positioned to participate in America’s economic recovery."
Last September, DiNapoli announced that employer contribution rates for 2010 would be reduced for a fifth consecutive year. And this September, he'll announce contribution rates for 2011.
The comptroller is the sole trustee of the fund, which pays pension benefits to public workers. It is funded through payroll deductions that are then invested nationwide.
